


Cherry Darling

by badwolf, magdalyna



Category: The Following
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Cults, M/M, Orgasm Delay/Denial, non-graphic thoughts about noncon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-24
Updated: 2013-02-24
Packaged: 2017-12-03 11:02:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/697554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badwolf/pseuds/badwolf, https://archiveofourown.org/users/magdalyna/pseuds/magdalyna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mike’s chapter is about sex.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cherry Darling

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to andromeda-reinvented for the beta.

Mike’s chapter is about sex. And Joe told him all the things Ryan likes best. Mike practices with cherry stems at home, late at night. He bought a realistic dildo just to practice on and was ridiculously proud of himself when he mastered deep throating. He’s fairly certain he got the right size - because you can tell so much from how a man wears his slacks, Michael. Joe makes him wear a plug most days, too.

He starts out with the smallest size he could find, not much bigger than a little finger. He wanted to just jump right into the more realistic sizes, show his devotion through his pain, but Joe convinced him to work up to that. Joe looks out for him like that, keeps his eagerness for the cause from being his own undoing.

Joe broaches the subject of orgasm denial a year into their friendship- when Mike completes a goal for Joe, wouldn’t that be a reward layered on top of rewards? Besides, their story has a long incubation period, discipline is required. Patience is a virtue, and wouldn’t Ryan be surprised - delighted at how hard he can make you come, Michael?

Joe is always trying to help them better themselves like that. Mike knows he is disciplined enough for the job, but Joe is always pushing them to be their very best. Always seeing how they could improve even when they can’t see it. So Mike goes for it.  
Joe manages to send him a cock ring for his birthday, which helps. Joe wants him to be his best self after all. He can go for weeks once he’s hit his stride. If he finally breaks after 3 months with thoughts of Joe and Ryan - together, and using him, well, Joe already knows of his utter devotion.

Testing himself had been Mike’s idea. Joe would have been proud of him merely abstaining, but Mike figured it’s not real discipline if there is no temptation for him to turn away from. So Mike tempts himself, he bring himself right to the edge of orgasm, until he is so close he can taste it, and then stops. The ring helps, keeps any accidents from happening while Mike learns.

But then, after three whole months of being perfect, the accident happens. Maybe it was the fact that he just talked to Joe, or that he was still adjusting to the new plug’s size. Whatever it was, it was the best orgasm of Mike’s life. Coming even with the ring on was almost more pain than pleasure, but that’s what made it so good. He tells Joe about it, of course, and the way Joe smiles through the webcam - it makes his toes curl. Joe is pleased, with his initiative. With how well he’s doing.

And pleasing Joe is all he ever wanted to do really. That smile is like a benediction from the pope himself. From the Son, the Father, and the Holy Spirit all wrapped up into one. It feels better than any orgasm ever could. In his moments of doubt Mike draws his strength from that smile.

These days, with a silicone plug that’s the size of two of his fingers, he’s learned to walk gracefully, to run even. It’s comforting, a little like having Joe in him, always. The cock ring gives him focus, but he doesn’t need it to control himself. His chapter is coming, Joe has promised him. It’s towards the end but he has mastered the art of patience, in this at least.

Joe has always said the ending chapters are the most important part of a story. It’s what stays with people long after the story is finished. And Joe wants Mike to help write the ending. The last chapter will go to Joe of course, or Ryan (Joe’s always been honest about that being a possibility). But that just makes Mike’s chapter so much better. Ryan took down Joe single handed. He almost killed Joe, almost killed a god. And to (biblically) know a god killer is just one step removed from knowing God himself.

He tries to get to know Ryan, to be friendly, open. He enables Ryan because the water bottle trick doesn’t fool anyone, not if they look. He tries to bond with him, make Ryan trust him more than colleagues usually trust each other. When he told Ryan he was aching to prove himself at the BAU (second only to Dr. Spencer Reid, yes, that Dr. Reid) he wasn’t lying. He gets close once, after Troy’s death. He plays the lost little boy in need of comfort. It wasn’t all an act, Mike had liked Troy. But they all had to make sacrifices for the cause.

Ryan shoots him down at every turn. He doesn’t know what more he can do, short of get them both blistering skunk drunk and shove him into bed. But that’s not how Joe wants it, not how he wants it.It would be so easy too. Ryan’s control is slipping. A few unkind words, a suggestion that all this could have been avoid if Ryan had done X different the first time. Hell Ryan probably wouldn’t even suspect anything if Mike slipped something into his drink, too used to hang overs and lost hours.  
  
Mike considers these but - Joe wants a true seduction, a true romance. So Joe works on pushing Ryan to the edge and if Mike is the only one who can buttress Ryan from the jagged edge of pain those consequences bring, well, Joe is good at what he does. He’s made Mike good, too. Eventually Ryan will find himself giving in to the comfort Mike has prepared himself for - has waited to give - for years.

Clair could be a problem, Ryan is annoyingly monogamous. But thankfully Ryan’s own inner demons take care of that. No matter how much Ryan cares for Clair he won’t seek comfort in her. He doesn’t want to burden her with his pain. Mike knows she’s strong enough to carry Ryan’s burden in addition to her own, but he isn’t going to tell Ryan that.

So he doesn’t think about her. If he gets jealous that she’s been with both of the most important people in his life- his god, his god’s lover - well, she isn’t his problem, his chapter. Ryan will look to him eventually, bodies finally melding, and he will transcend.


End file.
